Removable cover for latch mechanisms



Nov. 15, 1938.

J. R. FEHR l REMOVABLE'COVER FOR LATCH MECHANISMS' Filed June 27, 1935 2 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Nov. 15, 19318B J. R. FE1-l I REMOVABLE COVER FOR LATCH MECHANISMS `Filed June 27, 1935 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 15, 1938 UNITED STATES REMOVABLE COVER FOR LATCH MECHANISMS John R. Fehr, Dayton, Motors Corporation, tion of Delaware Ohio, assigner to General Dayton, Ohio, a corpora- Application June `.27., 1935, serial No. 28,694 s Claims. (C1. 29g-337) This invention relates to .refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to latches for refrigerator cabinets. f

The most desirable place for a refrigerator latch is upon the outside of the cabinet so that it is in no Wise subject to the moist cold atmosphere of the interior of the cabinet. However, heretofore the latch mechanism, especially the bolt and keeper have been exposed and while attempts have been made to provide somewhat ornamental effects, these did not adequately conceal the mechanism, nor did they present .an appearance which harmonized with the lines of the cabinet. Also, there was always the possibility that clothing might be .caught in the latch or upon the keeper, or that any oil which might be upon the latch for its lubrication might become smeared upon clothing.

It is an object of my invention to overcome these difficulties of the external type of latch and to `provide an external type of latch means having a substantially unbroken, smooth owing surface with stream line styling which will conceal the latch mechanism and prevent the catching g5 and ruining of clothing by the latch mechanism.

It is another object of my invention to provide a latch mechanism with a covering means which extends over both the bolt and the keeper in a smooth ilowing harmonious fashion.

:0 Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

,5. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator cabinet embodying one form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the latch mechanism shown in Fig. 1

0 Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken along the lines 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a front view of a refrigerator cabinet 5 showing a modied form of my invention; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the latch mechanism shown in Fig. 5.

In the latch mechanism herein disclosed, I have provided a covering means of sheet metal which extends over the bolt and keeper in the substantially unbroken, smooth flowing, continuous lines of the now popular streamline styling which may be of two parts shown in Figs. 1 to 4, one part extending over the bolt mechanism and moving i with the door, while the other part covers the keeper and remains with the keeper. These two parts, however, ,are harmoniously styled so that the lines of one extend directly into the linesl of the ,other so that except for the fact that there is, of course, a break in the sheet metal, the ap- 5 pearance of the cover is as one continuous piece. In Figs. 5 and.6,lhowever, the cover is actually in one piece and has the unbroken, smooth flowing, continuous lines of the now popular streamline styling.V In this form, theentire cover is` 10 mounted upon and moves with the door.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. l a refrigerator cabinet 2G having a cabinet door 22 and a door jamb 24 provided with a latch mechanism generally designated by the 15 referencevcharacter 2B for holding the door in closed position. Referring now more particularly to Figs. `2, 3 and 4 for a more complete disclosure of the latch mechanism, there is shown a bolt casing 28 containing `a bolt 30 provided with a 20 roller 32 at its outer `end as well as a recess 34 at its mid-portion and a compression coil spring 36 at its rear end which is held within the rear portion ,of the bolt casing 28. Fastened to this bolt casing 28 is a bracket 38 provided with later- 25 ally extending arms 4|] and` 42 which are held in place by wood screws 44 which fasten the bolt mechanism to the door. The door has a groove 46 for receiving the lower portion of the bolt casing so as to reduce the amount the latch mechanism projects from the door. The bracket 38 is also provided with a pair of upstanding ears 50 which receive the hub 52 of the handle 54 which is pivotally mounted to the bracket 38 by the pivot pin 56 which extends through the ears 50 and the 35 hub 52. Extending from the hub- 52 is a bolt actuating finger 58 which extends into the recess 34 and is provided for retracting the bolt 30 against the tension of the spring 36 in order to open the door.

The roller 32 at the outer end of the bolt 3U cooperates with a keeper 59 which is fastened to the door jamb 24 by wood screws 6U. This keeper is provided with the usual striking face 62 and the retaining recess 64, each of which cooperates with the roller 32. The retaining recess cooperates with the roller 32 to hold the door in closed position, while the striking face serves to permit the slamming of the door to closed position by cooperating with the roller 32 to retract the bolt 50 30 to permit the door to be closed without operating the handle 54.

It will be seen that with the mechanism so far described, the bolt and the keeper are exposed. The keeper has a hooked shape which makes it liable to catch clothing. The roller 32 and the bolt have wearing surfaces` which it is desirable to lubricate in order to prevent Wear. This, however, would be likely to cause. oil stains if it comes into contact with any clothing. In order to overcome these difficulties and to conceal the bolt mechanism and keeper so as to provide an improved appearance, I have provided a cover means of thin sheet metal which includes a removable cover 66 of asmooth flowing contour which extends .beneath the handle 54 over the bolt mechanism to a point Where it partially covers the keeper 59. This cover is provided With an aperture 68 through which a portion of the handle next the hub 52 passes. This cover 66 has a smooth flowing, unbroken continuous contour of streamline styling which is provided with a turned in lower rim HJ which stiifens the cover and particularly prevents the bending of the lower edges thereof. This lower inturned edge 1U engages a pair of spring latch members 12 which fit on top of the lateral projecting arms 40 and 42 of the bracket 38 and are held in place by the wood screws 44. These latch members 12 are preferably of spring material and the cover 66 is also of a relatively springy construction so that this cover 66 is normally held tightly in place, but can be easily removed by the use of sufficient force to disengage the latch means 12 and guiding the cover so that it is drawn off the handle 54.

The keeper 59 is likewise provided with a cover 'I4 which is in reality a continuation of the cover 66, being separated therefrom only by the joint shown along the section line of 4--4. This cover 'I4 is provided with a flange 16 which is held beneath the edges of the base 18 of thev keeper. This cover 14 completes the lines of the cover 66 to give the entire latch mechanism a streamline style cover.

In Fig. 5, I have shown a refrigerator cabinet 80 having a door 82, a door jamb 84, and a latch mechanism 86. This latch mechanism B6, better shown in Fig 6, includes a bolt mechanism 88 which is similar to the bolt mechanism shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 and provided with a handle 90.

This bolt mechanism cooperates with a keeper 92 similar to the keeper 59 and is mounted upon the door jamb. Extending over the bolt mechanism 88 and the keeper 92 is a one-piece cover 94 of thin resilient sheet metal which is fastened by a spring latch mechanism similar to that shown in Fig. 3 to the face of the door. This cover 94 has a. smooth flowing continuous surface of unbroken lines in the modern streamline styling. It extends over and covers the keeper as well as the bolt mechanism so as to prevent the catching of any clothing or soiling of any clothing by the latch mechanism. It is unusual in that it encloses both the bolt mechanism and the keeper.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a latch mechanism including a bolt member and a keeper member, one of said members being mounted upon the outer face of a door and the other member being mounted upon the outer face of a door jamb, a removable covering means fo'r said latch mechanism having an outer surface of substantially unbroken contour extending over the bolt and keeper members, the edge portions of said covering means terminating close to the outer faces of the door and door jamb.

2. In a latch mechanism including a bolt mechanism and a keeper, a removable covering means for said latch mechanism extending over the bolt mechanism and the keeper, said removable covering means being fastened to the bolt mechanism.

3. In a latch mechanism including a bolt mechanism and a keeper, a removable covering means for said latch mechanism extending over the bolt mechanism and the keeper; said removable covering means being held in place, covering the bolt and the keeper, by a snap fastening means for fastening the covering means to the latch mechanism.

JOHN R. FEHR. 

